JohnnyBD

I agree, some may pay less taxes in Thailand than in their home country, but some will pay much more. For example; in the US if filing married & joint, you can have up to $124,800 in total income before you pay any taxes depending on the types of income. You will get $29,200 married deduction, $1,550 age 65 deduction, and can have long-term qualified dividends up to $94,050 for total income of $124,800 with zero tax liability. In my case, for 2024, I will have $29,200 & $1,550 of ordinary income & $38,386 in LT dividends which will be exempt in the US, but would be assessable income in Thailand. I will pay tax on the rest of my US income. If this worldwide income tax becomes law, I will just stay less than 180 days in Thailand and spend more time back home with my children & grandchildren.

Thanks to whoever invented VPN. I use the VPN in my home country so my financial institutions and any government agencies will not know when I'm out of the country.

I believe you would need to stay less than 180 days not to be a tax resident. If you stay 180 days or more, I believe you would be a tax resident. I will stay less than 180 days if this comes to pass.

Hi All, For those who bank with SCB, did they discontinue internet banking? I can't seem to find how to set up access to my accounts on my laptop. I can only access my new THB acct with my phone using the SCB app. I can't access my new joint THB acct with my phone, because it's linked only to my THB acct. I can only check balances or get cash from an ATM or the bank for my joint THB acct. If I wanted to xfer or pay bills from my joint THB acct, it looks like I will need to go into the bank, or get a second phone to link it to. That's really inconvenient... I didn't ask when they set up my accts last week, I just assumed that any bank would have internet banking. I will check with them next time I go there.

I will just spend less than 180 days in Thailand if that's what it takes. I'm hoping the LTR-WP visa holders will still be exempt, but if not, I wanted to spend more time with my children & grandchildren anyway.

Some do when they need to make big big withdrawals over the 20k ATM limit. I use my ATM card at any machine when I need only 20k. This is 2024, by the way... just joking...

I'm just letting you know that banks other than Krungsri ask for passports too.

KBank always asked me for my passport when I did counter transactions. So did Citibank, now UOB. I've had accounts with each for 7 years.

Thanks for your help. I hope mine goes quickly too. I submitted everything on May 29. I only submitted my 2023 tax return, 1099s, $50k insurance, along with my SS gov't & pension verification letters & 1099s and history printout. I didn't submit any 2022 tax year docs. I tried to go back and submit them after reading your post, but the system was locked, and it wouldn't let me add anything else. I guess if they need my 2022 docs, they will call or email me. I am waiting anxiously...

There must be another order, directive or edict that was issued by the Director-General of the Revenue Dept. or the Minister of Finance that states all income is tax exempt, otherwise BOI would not be telling everyone that. RD 743 cannot be the only order that was issued because it does not state all income is tax exempt. Several tax firms have issued the same opinion & guidance on RD 743 as Deloitte, I just didn't list them all. If RD 743 is the only order or directive on the issue, then whoever drafted it, needs to be fired.

I think you are misunderstanding their legal opinion. Deloitte issued a legal opinion on RD 743 only. They are not saying that any other income that falls outside of RD 743 is not tax exempt. BOI has promoted the LTR visas as tax exempt, so I'm fairly certain that all income is exempt no matter when it was derived and remitted. It's just that RD 743 doesn't address all the different situations. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It would be nice if BOI & TRD would issue some further guidance to clarify and/or add to the RD 743.

Who's right, some of the previous posters or Deloitte? This is what Deloitte says about the Thai Royal Decree (No. 743) issued on 21 May 2022: • An exemption from personal income tax for foreign nationals from jurisdictions designated as “wealthy countries,” retired foreign nationals, and foreign nationals who want to work remotely from Thailand and who are granted an LTR visa, in respect of their income derived in a prior fiscal year from work or undertakings carried out in a foreign country, or from assets situated in a foreign country, where such income is brought into Thailand in a fiscal year subsequent to the year in which the income is derived. th-tax-newsletter-june-2022-en.pdf (deloitte.com)

You're right, it did come out about a year before, and if everyone's previous year's income was already exempt, then RD 743 was not needed. RD 743 does not state all income remitted is exempt, or income derived & remitted in the same fiscal year is exempt, that would have been too simple & straightforward. RD 743 states "derived in the previous tax year..., and brought into Thailand", which doesn't address one's current year's income. We can look at the same wording and arrive at different interpretations, nothing right or wrong about that. RD 743 does not address one's current year income being remitted in the same fiscal year, so that is left up to each person's own interpretation. I think they like to keep us guessing. I'm fairly certain all income remitted, no matter when derived or when remitted will be deemed exempt for LTR-WP visa holders, but I am going to be prudent, and try to get a written answer from TRD, to make absolutely certain.

I agree, that would be the simplest way... Maybe that is what RD 743 was meant to do, since it states the following: "derived in the previous tax year from an employment, or from business carried on abroad, or from a property situated abroad, and brought into Thailand".

I hope your interpretation is correct. I think it would be prudent for me to get clarification (if I can) from the Thai Revenue Department before remitting any big monies. I read numerous opinions & guidelines from Thai Tax companies and they refer to RD 743, and some state it's the previous year's income being remitted in a subsequent year that's exempt. They say nothing about the current year's income being exempt, if it was remitted in the same fiscal year as it was derived. I won't post them all, but this is what Deloitte says about the Thai Royal Decree (No. 743) issued on 21 May 2022: • An exemption from personal income tax for foreign nationals from jurisdictions designated as “wealthy countries,” retired foreign nationals, and foreign nationals who want to work remotely from Thailand and who are granted an LTR visa, in respect of their income derived in a prior fiscal year from work or undertakings carried out in a foreign country, or from assets situated in a foreign country, where such income is brought into Thailand in a fiscal year subsequent to the year in which the income is derived.

No, I don't need a personal letter from the Thai Minister of Finance... 😏 And, I don't think BOI will pay my 7MM baht tax bill. But, requesting confirmation in writing from the legitimate government taxing authority (the Thai Revenue Dept.) regarding the tax exempt status of monies remitted in the same year as derived, for a LTR-WP visa holder, is not an unreasonable request. In fact, it would be a very smart thing to do for someone remitting big monies. As you said, it's up to me... ☺️ Thank you.

Forgive me for trying to make sure that I won't get hit with a 7 MM baht tax bill next year after remitting monies derived in the same year as remitted. I received one of those emails from the BOI LTR Visa Unit about monies being tax exempt, but after looking at the email more closely, it didn't have an official letter attached, it wasn't signed by anyone, and it had no names on it. It was just a reply email that could have been sent by some low level clerical person with the BOI logo. At the bottom, it had a disclaimer note saying to contact the Revenue Department for further questions. So, I will try to contact the Thai Revenue Department about my questions before remitting big some monies.

I am one of those who received an email from the LTR Visa Unit stating that all monies remitted after I received my LTR-WP visa, would be tax exempt. Now, I'm starting to question what the Royal Decree 743 acutally states, if all income is exempt once you get the LTR, or is it just the income remitted in a subsequent year, or if it's only the income in the first year after you receive the LTR-WP visa. I read the english translation posted by someone, and it's not clear to me on any of those points. I guess I will play it safe, and only remit monies derived in the previous year.

The statement below by this tax firm appears to say that we need to wait until the following year after the monies are derived to remit them, for those remittances to be tax exempt. Does anyone know if this is correct? To make it perfectly clear, are monies derived and remitted in the same year, tax exempt or not exempt? FRANK LEGAL & TAX PowerPoint 演示文稿 (franklegaltax.com) For wealthy global citizens, wealthy pensioners and work-from Thailand professionals: ✔ Income tax exemption applies to income derived in a previous tax year from work or business carried out abroad, or from assets located abroad, where such income is brought into Thailand in a fiscal year subsequent to the year in which the income is derived

Very good summary of the current situation... Good job...

Thank you all for being very helpful. I've been stressing out over the past few months with this tax thing (I'm on marriage extension), then, after reading this thread, it gave me some hope that my life here could still be relatively stress-free and enjoyable. I received my new passport in the mail from the US Embassy, and had the visa stamps transferred today, so I will start the LTR process tomorrow. I am hoping for a smooth approval process. Thanks again for all the advice.

I understand both sides of the argument, but if someone truly borrowed money and remitted it to buy a car or condo becuase they truly needed to, then that is not tax evasion. It was earnetly done. Now, if someone had $100k in the bank and they borrowed $100k against it (a share loan from credit unions or margin loan against stocks) and remitted the loan monies, then immediately paid the loan off, then that could be viewed as tax evasion by some and rightly so (the sniff test), but technically, it was still a loan and I don't see how Thailand would know whether the person was doing it to evade taxes. In my opinion, loans should not be assessable income. I usually don't like to get in the middle of disagreements, but until TRD issues a ruling on this, it is not settled one way or the other, right?

Thanks. I will do that and use it as a cover letter.

Hi Jim, Should I also upload all of my 1099s for dividends & interest too, that show up on my tax return, or I just need to upload my SSA-1099 & Company Pension 1009-R which is over the $80k threshold? Sorry to bug you again...

Thanks a bunch for that piece of information... I will do that.